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Papers by Fiona Cameron

Duke University Press eBooks, Feb 26, 2017

Musées décentrés Renouveler les regards sur les collections 208 OCIM, 2024

« Humanisme moderne » est entendu dans cet article comme le mouvement d'idées qui se développa en... more « Humanisme moderne » est entendu dans cet article comme le mouvement d'idées qui se développa en Europe aux XV e et XVI e siècles et qui prônait la redécouverte de la pensée antique. Ce mouvement intellectuel représente « une attitude philosophique qui prend l'homme pour fin et valeur suprême et qui vise à l'épanouissement de la personne humaine et au respect de sa dignité » (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9 e édition). Détail de la machine à vapeur de Boulton et Watt (1788). Collection du Science Museum de Londres. cc-by-nc-sa The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

The Large Glass No. 35/ 36, 2023 (Journal of Contemporary Art, Culture and Theory) Published twice a year. Price for a single copy 500 MKD, Annual subscription: 1000 MKD Publisher: Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje Address: Samoilova 17, MK -1000 Skopje, 2023

Current ways of thinking and living in the western world, and the value judgements and actions th... more Current ways of thinking and living in the western world, and the value judgements and actions that are borne out of modern humanism, capital growth, and extraction - in which museums are complicit - are contributing to the devastating consequences of global warming and related more-than-human disasters. Such circumstances require a rethinking of the museum, curatorial practices, and the anthropocentric conception of strong agency founded on epistemological subject-object models and the mindsets that emerge from these relational figurations. It is increasingly apparent that all things are interconnected, and human agency is just one among many others in complex and often unruly processes. While history, science and technology museums, and their engagement with non-human worlds, have always been ecological as an empirical reality, the human-centred frameworks and forms of human agency that institutions deploy
tend to be non-cognizant of this reality.

This article is a synopsis of the arguments presented in my recent monograph, Museum Practices and the Posthumanities: Curating for Planetary Habitability. This book project seeks to inspire museological scholars to conduct research and for museum professionals to curate all manner of activities from a different ecological reference point. It acknowledges that for this to occur, novel and plural more-than-human curatorial visions, methods, conceptual frameworks, policies, and museologies are required that signal an enmeshed and more-than-human approach to the make-up and composition of the world to promote a planet good enough for all things to live and thrive in radical coexistence. The book also offers theoretical grounding for museum activism in the face of climate and planetary crises while at the same time undoing the crisis of modern humanism

Museum International Volume 75, 2023 - Issue 1-4, 2024

She is a pioneering figure in digital heritage philosophy, museums' engagement with social and po... more She is a pioneering figure in digital heritage philosophy, museums' engagement with social and political issues and climate action, and the posthumanities taking critical museology in new directions. She was awarded eight Australian Research Council grants, was an investigator on 11 international grants with six European universities, 62 European, American, Australasian/Pacific museums and peak bodies advancing climate policy. She has 101 publications including seven books with leading publishers, MIT Press, Duke UP, and Routledge on these topics.

Routledge eBooks, Mar 19, 2021

Routledge eBooks, Mar 19, 2021

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Jul 1, 2011

As youth mobilisations around climate change continue growing, how can science centres work with ... more As youth mobilisations around climate change continue growing, how can science centres work with youth in alliances that support broad scale action

Routledge, Dec 5, 2014

“We are on Nature’s side,” “Nature with a big N,” and “Nature’s Treasure house” are respectively ... more “We are on Nature’s side,” “Nature with a big N,” and “Nature’s Treasure house” are respectively a quote and an image on a paper bag from the gift shop at London’s Natural History Museum, and the title of a book on the history of the institution. While this branding gestures toward benevolent and honourable intentions toward Nature on the part of the Museum, it is an occasion to pause and reflect on what these messages communicate about this museum, museums in general and their relation with the nonhuman world. I contend that these words and images suggest that humans are there to protect Nature; are custodians of nature in a way that displays hubris and claims to patriarchal continuity; that museums as modernist institutions give themselves the authority to speak for the nonhuman; and that museums act as storehouses for all the kingdoms of Nature. The image of the Big N on the bag gestures toward the proposition that nature exists as Big Nature, a metaphor used to categorise and describe all nonhuman others and earthly processes. The nonhuman, animals, insects, rocks and earthly processes are therefore relegated to the position of a passive object to be documented, described, named, protected, controlled and used for human ends. These museum examples clearly exemplify modernity’s relations with nature

Documentation forms the basis in which museum collections are ascribed meaning. Practices, many o... more Documentation forms the basis in which museum collections are ascribed meaning. Practices, many of which are rooted in 19th-century empiricist modes of thinking, have not been revised at the speed that ideological, practical, and technological transformations are taking place in other areas of museum practice. At this point an opportunity exists for radical changes not only in the manner objects that are documented, but also the way they are perceived as forms of evidence. This chapter, drawing on the findings of the Knowledge Objects project and the writing ofleading museum theorists and historians revisits the acquisition and documentation process. It proposes the incorporation of new principles, practices, and structures that acknowledge objects as polysemic entities-as holding multiple meanings: the meaning of narratives and classificatory systems as projects of cultural, disciplinary, museum, and curatorial opinion and the role of a diverse range of users in the cycle of knowledge making and the responsibilities of curators and collection managers as knowledge experts and brokers

Museums and science centers are emerging as key players in climate change action. They have uniqu... more Museums and science centers are emerging as key players in climate change action. They have unique communicative, affective and social qualities and promote inter-generational learning outside the classroom. All these characteristics and activities can be purposefully deployed and critically developed to enable them to have agency in climate change governance in many different ways. In contrast to more politically defined sectors, research indicates that museums hold a unique position in the media and political landscape as trusted information sources, second only to science organizations and way ahead of mainstream media and government as places to communicate climate science and raise awareness of climate change (Cameron et al. 2009)

Collecting, Ordering, Governing, 2017

Collecting, Ordering, Governing

Climate change is a complex and dynamic environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is ... more Climate change is a complex and dynamic environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is reshaping our relationship to nature. Climate change is a global force, with global impacts. Viable solutions on what to do must involve dialogues and decision making with many agencies, stakeholder groups and communities crossing all sectors and scales. Current policy approaches are inadequate and fi nding a consensus on how to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through international protocols has proven diffi cult. Gaps between science and society limit government and industry capacity to engage with communities to broker innovative solutions to climate change. Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details the important roles and agencies that cultural institutions (in particular, natural history and science museums and science centers) can play within these gaps as resources, catalysts and change agents in climate change debates and decision-making processes; as unique public and transnational spaces where diverse stakeholders, government and communities can meet; where knowledge can be mediated, competing discourses and agendas tabled and debated, and where both individual and collective action might be activated.

Routledge, 2015

Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details th... more Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details the important role that museums, in their various forms, can play within these gaps. Climate Change and Museum Futures explores how museums can act as resources, catalysts, and change agents in climate change debates and decision-making processes. The volume is also interested in how museums provide unique public and transnational spaces where diverse stakeholders, government, and communities can meet, mediate knowledge, table, and debate competing discourses and agendas, and create openings for individual and collective action

use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you g... more use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you g... more use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The Posthuman Pandemic, 2021

Duke University Press eBooks, Feb 26, 2017

Musées décentrés Renouveler les regards sur les collections 208 OCIM, 2024

« Humanisme moderne » est entendu dans cet article comme le mouvement d'idées qui se développa en... more « Humanisme moderne » est entendu dans cet article comme le mouvement d'idées qui se développa en Europe aux XV e et XVI e siècles et qui prônait la redécouverte de la pensée antique. Ce mouvement intellectuel représente « une attitude philosophique qui prend l'homme pour fin et valeur suprême et qui vise à l'épanouissement de la personne humaine et au respect de sa dignité » (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9 e édition). Détail de la machine à vapeur de Boulton et Watt (1788). Collection du Science Museum de Londres. cc-by-nc-sa The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

The Large Glass No. 35/ 36, 2023 (Journal of Contemporary Art, Culture and Theory) Published twice a year. Price for a single copy 500 MKD, Annual subscription: 1000 MKD Publisher: Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje Address: Samoilova 17, MK -1000 Skopje, 2023

Current ways of thinking and living in the western world, and the value judgements and actions th... more Current ways of thinking and living in the western world, and the value judgements and actions that are borne out of modern humanism, capital growth, and extraction - in which museums are complicit - are contributing to the devastating consequences of global warming and related more-than-human disasters. Such circumstances require a rethinking of the museum, curatorial practices, and the anthropocentric conception of strong agency founded on epistemological subject-object models and the mindsets that emerge from these relational figurations. It is increasingly apparent that all things are interconnected, and human agency is just one among many others in complex and often unruly processes. While history, science and technology museums, and their engagement with non-human worlds, have always been ecological as an empirical reality, the human-centred frameworks and forms of human agency that institutions deploy
tend to be non-cognizant of this reality.

This article is a synopsis of the arguments presented in my recent monograph, Museum Practices and the Posthumanities: Curating for Planetary Habitability. This book project seeks to inspire museological scholars to conduct research and for museum professionals to curate all manner of activities from a different ecological reference point. It acknowledges that for this to occur, novel and plural more-than-human curatorial visions, methods, conceptual frameworks, policies, and museologies are required that signal an enmeshed and more-than-human approach to the make-up and composition of the world to promote a planet good enough for all things to live and thrive in radical coexistence. The book also offers theoretical grounding for museum activism in the face of climate and planetary crises while at the same time undoing the crisis of modern humanism

Museum International Volume 75, 2023 - Issue 1-4, 2024

She is a pioneering figure in digital heritage philosophy, museums' engagement with social and po... more She is a pioneering figure in digital heritage philosophy, museums' engagement with social and political issues and climate action, and the posthumanities taking critical museology in new directions. She was awarded eight Australian Research Council grants, was an investigator on 11 international grants with six European universities, 62 European, American, Australasian/Pacific museums and peak bodies advancing climate policy. She has 101 publications including seven books with leading publishers, MIT Press, Duke UP, and Routledge on these topics.

Routledge eBooks, Mar 19, 2021

Routledge eBooks, Mar 19, 2021

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Jul 1, 2011

As youth mobilisations around climate change continue growing, how can science centres work with ... more As youth mobilisations around climate change continue growing, how can science centres work with youth in alliances that support broad scale action

Routledge, Dec 5, 2014

“We are on Nature’s side,” “Nature with a big N,” and “Nature’s Treasure house” are respectively ... more “We are on Nature’s side,” “Nature with a big N,” and “Nature’s Treasure house” are respectively a quote and an image on a paper bag from the gift shop at London’s Natural History Museum, and the title of a book on the history of the institution. While this branding gestures toward benevolent and honourable intentions toward Nature on the part of the Museum, it is an occasion to pause and reflect on what these messages communicate about this museum, museums in general and their relation with the nonhuman world. I contend that these words and images suggest that humans are there to protect Nature; are custodians of nature in a way that displays hubris and claims to patriarchal continuity; that museums as modernist institutions give themselves the authority to speak for the nonhuman; and that museums act as storehouses for all the kingdoms of Nature. The image of the Big N on the bag gestures toward the proposition that nature exists as Big Nature, a metaphor used to categorise and describe all nonhuman others and earthly processes. The nonhuman, animals, insects, rocks and earthly processes are therefore relegated to the position of a passive object to be documented, described, named, protected, controlled and used for human ends. These museum examples clearly exemplify modernity’s relations with nature

Documentation forms the basis in which museum collections are ascribed meaning. Practices, many o... more Documentation forms the basis in which museum collections are ascribed meaning. Practices, many of which are rooted in 19th-century empiricist modes of thinking, have not been revised at the speed that ideological, practical, and technological transformations are taking place in other areas of museum practice. At this point an opportunity exists for radical changes not only in the manner objects that are documented, but also the way they are perceived as forms of evidence. This chapter, drawing on the findings of the Knowledge Objects project and the writing ofleading museum theorists and historians revisits the acquisition and documentation process. It proposes the incorporation of new principles, practices, and structures that acknowledge objects as polysemic entities-as holding multiple meanings: the meaning of narratives and classificatory systems as projects of cultural, disciplinary, museum, and curatorial opinion and the role of a diverse range of users in the cycle of knowledge making and the responsibilities of curators and collection managers as knowledge experts and brokers

Museums and science centers are emerging as key players in climate change action. They have uniqu... more Museums and science centers are emerging as key players in climate change action. They have unique communicative, affective and social qualities and promote inter-generational learning outside the classroom. All these characteristics and activities can be purposefully deployed and critically developed to enable them to have agency in climate change governance in many different ways. In contrast to more politically defined sectors, research indicates that museums hold a unique position in the media and political landscape as trusted information sources, second only to science organizations and way ahead of mainstream media and government as places to communicate climate science and raise awareness of climate change (Cameron et al. 2009)

Collecting, Ordering, Governing, 2017

Collecting, Ordering, Governing

Climate change is a complex and dynamic environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is ... more Climate change is a complex and dynamic environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is reshaping our relationship to nature. Climate change is a global force, with global impacts. Viable solutions on what to do must involve dialogues and decision making with many agencies, stakeholder groups and communities crossing all sectors and scales. Current policy approaches are inadequate and fi nding a consensus on how to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through international protocols has proven diffi cult. Gaps between science and society limit government and industry capacity to engage with communities to broker innovative solutions to climate change. Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details the important roles and agencies that cultural institutions (in particular, natural history and science museums and science centers) can play within these gaps as resources, catalysts and change agents in climate change debates and decision-making processes; as unique public and transnational spaces where diverse stakeholders, government and communities can meet; where knowledge can be mediated, competing discourses and agendas tabled and debated, and where both individual and collective action might be activated.

Routledge, 2015

Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details th... more Drawing on cutting-edge research and creative programming initiatives, this collection details the important role that museums, in their various forms, can play within these gaps. Climate Change and Museum Futures explores how museums can act as resources, catalysts, and change agents in climate change debates and decision-making processes. The volume is also interested in how museums provide unique public and transnational spaces where diverse stakeholders, government, and communities can meet, mediate knowledge, table, and debate competing discourses and agendas, and create openings for individual and collective action

use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you g... more use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you g... more use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The Posthuman Pandemic, 2021

Modern museologies and curatorial practices with their foundations in eighteenth and nineteenth c... more Modern museologies and curatorial practices with their foundations in eighteenth and nineteenth century enlightenment models are dominated by the thoughts and practices of modern humanism in which capital growth, social, technological advancement, hubris, extraction, speciest logics and colonial domination predominate, often without reflection. While history, science and technology museums and their engagement with the non-human world have always been ecological as an empirical reality, the human subject-based object frameworks and forms of human agency that institutions deploy tend to be non-cognizant of this reality. These practices are ill-equipped to deal with radical transformations in society including rapid digital technological changes, the challenges of the Covid pandemic in a post Covid world, climate change and its impacts and impending socio-ecological collapse.

Museum practices and the posthumanities: Curating for planetary habitability undertakes a radical refiguration of the epistemological foundations of curatorial and museological thinking and practice It offers inspiration for museological scholars and museum professionals on how to research and curate from a different ecological reference point so they can promote a world good enough for all things to live and thrive in radical co-existence. To enable this to occur novel, more-than-human curatorial visions, methods, conceptual frameworks, policies and museologies are presented.

Cameron Fiona R. 2023 Museum Practices and The Posthumanities: Curating for Planetary Habitability. Abingdon: Routledge, 2023

Modern museologies and curatorial practices with their foundations in eighteenth and nineteenth c... more Modern museologies and curatorial practices with their foundations in eighteenth and nineteenth century enlightenment models are dominated by the thoughts and practices of modern humanism in which capital growth, social, technological advancement, hubris, extraction, speciest logics and colonial domination predominate, often without reflection. While history, science and technology museums and their engagement with the non-human world have always been ecological as an empirical reality, the human subject-based object frameworks and forms of human agency that institutions deploy tend to be non-cognizant of this reality. These practices are ill-equipped to deal with radical transformations in society including rapid digital technological changes, the challenges of the Covid pandemic in a post Covid world, climate change and its impacts and impending socio-ecological collapse.

Museum practices and the posthumanities: Curating for planetary habitability undertakes a radical refiguration of the epistemological foundations of curatorial and museological thinking and practice It offers inspiration for museological scholars and museum professionals on how to research and curate from a different ecological reference point so they can promote a world good enough for all things to live and thrive in radical co-existence. To enable this to occur novel, more-than-human curatorial visions, methods, conceptual frameworks, policies and museologies are presented.

THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL DATA, HERITAGE AND CURATION IN A MORE-THAN-HUMAN WORLD Monograph, 2021

The Future of Digital Data, Heritage and Curation critiques digital cultural heritage concepts an... more The Future of Digital Data, Heritage and Curation critiques digital cultural heritage concepts and their application to data, developing new theories, curatorial practices and a more-than-human museology for a contemporary and future world. Presenting a diverse range of case examples from around the globe, Cameron offers a critical and philosophical reflection on the ways in which digital cultural heritage is currently framed as societal data worth passing on to future generations in two distinct forms: digitally born and digitizations. Demonstrating that most perceptions of digital cultural heritage are distinctly western in nature, the book also examines the complicity of such heritage in climate change, and environmental destruction and injustice. Going further still, the book theorizes the future of digital data, heritage, curation and the notion of the human in the context of the profusion of new types of societal data and production processes driven by the intensification of data economies and through the emergence of new technologies. In so doing, the book makes a case for the development of new types of heritage that comprise AI, automated systems, biological entities, infrastructures, minerals and chemicalsall of which have their own forms of agency, intelligence and cognition. The Future of Digital Data, Heritage and Curation is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of museums, archives, libraries, galleries, archaeology, cultural heritage management, information management, curatorial studies and digital humanities.

This multi-authored book published by Duke University Press is an output from the Australian Rese... more This multi-authored book published by Duke University Press is an output from the Australian Research Council project, “Museum, Field, Metropolis,
Colony: Practices of Social Governance” led by Professor Tony Bennett, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.

Overview In Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage, experts offer a critical and theoretical appra... more Overview
In Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage, experts offer a critical and theoretical appraisal of the uses of digital media by cultural heritage institutions. Previous discussions of cultural heritage and digital technology have left the subject largely unmapped in terms of critical theory; the essays in this volume offer this long-missing perspective on the challenges of using digital media in the research, preservation, management, interpretation, and representation of cultural heritage. The contributors—scholars and practitioners from a range of relevant disciplines—ground theory in practice, considering how digital technology might be used to transform institutional cultures, methods, and relationships with audiences. The contributors examine the relationship between material and digital objects in collections of art and indigenous artifacts; the implications of digital technology for knowledge creation, documentation, and the concept of authority; and the possibilities for "virtual cultural heritage"—the preservation and interpretation of cultural and natural heritage through real-time, immersive, and interactive techniques.

The essays in Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage will serve as a resource for professionals, academics, and students in all fields of cultural heritage, including museums, libraries, galleries, archives, and archaeology, as well as those in education and information technology. The range of issues considered and the diverse disciplines and viewpoints represented point to new directions for an emerging field.

Contributors:
Nadia Arbach, Juan Antonio Barceló, Deidre Brown, Fiona Cameron, Erik Champion, Sarah Cook, Jim Cooley, Bharat Dave, Suhas Deshpande, Bernadette Flynn, Maurizio Forte, Kati Geber, Beryl Graham, Susan Hazan, Sarah Kenderdine, José Ripper Kós, Harald Kraemer, Ingrid Mason, Gavan McCarthy, Slavko Milekic, Rodrigo Paraizo, Ross Parry, Scot T. Refsland, Helena Robinson, Angelina Russo, Corey Timpson, Marc Tuters, Peter Walsh, Jerry Watkins, Andrea Witcomb.

Publisher: MIT Press
Publication Date: 2007